


Founding of A Family

by Dreamelilly018



Series: Mama Eda and Mother Lilith [3]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Adoption, F/F, F/M, Homelessness, Magic, Mother by choice, infant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26353093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamelilly018/pseuds/Dreamelilly018
Summary: From a young age of five, Lilith held no interest in settling down or having a brood of her own. Being the covenness of the Emperor’s coven had having the knowledge of one day of training her apprentice from infancy, held enough responbility on their own. Adding young witchlings or warlocks into the mix would be nothing but chaos. There would be no time for good night kisses or the soft hand of a mother from her. Her full attention now went to her job and the one day, the apprentice she hoped for.Well, that was at least until her first convection. That was the day when she met the four that changed her mind.
Relationships: Eda Clawthorne & Lilith Clawthorne, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Original Character(s), Lilith Clawthorne & Original Female Character(s), Lilith Clawthorne/Original Character(s), Luz Noceda & Original Character(s)
Series: Mama Eda and Mother Lilith [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190306
Comments: 7
Kudos: 109





	Founding of A Family

_“Hey Lil,” her younger sister began one evening._

_“Yes, Edalyn?” the covenness asked not looking up from where she was grading papers._

_“If I remember correctly when we were younger, you said you never wanted ids?” Edalyn mused. “How did you get shacked with those four?”_

_Dropping her pen on the table, she raised her eyes to find her seventeen-year-old sister not looking at her but out of the window where their brood was messing around at. With the two eldest, Eddie, and Emily, off at a magic camp for their summer, there were only her two younger daughters and her sister’s preteen apprentice and glorified lap demon playing underneath the willows in the back lot. Luz, the preteen, was being cased around by, Flora and Ashia, with King on her back while they were playing the human version of Spell Casted; only for Luz to take a tumble, possibly tripping over a root, and burst out laughing with the twelve and four-year-old following sought._

_Face softening, the witch was overjoyed to see them being so carefree and happy. It was far cry from how they first met._

_“Lil?”_

_“Well, Edalyn,” she began, picking up her papers. “Becoming a mother to my four wasn’t exactly what I expected from my first convection as coverness. It’s quite a long store…”_

***

She had been fresh from secondary training at the young age of twenty-one when she had been approached to speak at her first convection as it was one of her many new responsibilities that came with being the new Covenness, the person who served right under the emperor, and her soon beginning the job of teaching History Of Apprenticeship to Baby Class to graduating students in a few weeks.

The weeks following the convention had been filled with stress and chaos. She had attended many meetings to learn the policies, introduce her to the public, and start the long process to find her an apprentice as traditions had it. It wasn’t the process of finding an apprentice but rather the prodding of her mother to give her some little witches or warlocks was what got to her.

From a young age of five, Lilith held no interest in settling down or having a brood of her own. Being the covenness of the Emperor’s coven had to know of one day of training her apprentice from infancy, held enough responsibility on their own. Adding young witchlings or warlocks into the mix would be nothing but chaos. There would be no time for good night kisses or the soft hand of a mother from her. Her full attention now went to her job and the one day, the apprentice she hoped for.

Even with the prodding of her mother saying that she would change her mind, the covenness had scoffed. After seeing how parents paraded around their children like prized show demons, praising how talented and well-mannered they were, she would beg to differ. From her younger years, watching her little sister and apprentice teaching in secondary training, she saw how spoiled children were and how many held no interest in doing work for a goal that could be reached through an “easier” method.

Though she may not want children of her own, she still missed the countless hours that her mother had forced her to watch her little sister, eight years younger than herself, during the countless long hours of summer while their parents were attending lectures or mingling with others of their age. But every time she felt those deep, wanting bonds, she would push it back with a single promise of, “they will find me a worthy apprentice soon,” before going on with her duties, not even thinking of one day having a brood of her own.

Well, that was at least until her first convection. That was the day when she met the four that changed her mind.

Finally, after three and a half long weeks of preparing, her first time of speaking had arrived. While she was nervous and unsure of herself, she followed what her secondary training had taught her. Standing in front of the large crowd of people, many potently future coven members, made her feel awed on how they looked up to her. The opening of the event was going fine until her tortoise eyes landed on a group of four children huddled towards the back of the bleachers. While many were dressed lavishly and feasted on delightful treats, these children wore clothes that hung off of them and shared a small bag of peanuts between the eldest three, and the youngest only drinking a plain bottle of water. It was their faces, gaunt and dark with hopelessness, which pulled her in and caused her to falter, bringing forward a feeling she had quelled until that moment.

But the long weeks of training came flashing back to her, causing her to easily remember her face and turn away from the small huddle of children.

After introducing the next speaker, she slipped into the back part of the stage, keeping an eye on the kids. The eldest three now whispering among each other and were tracking the attention some of the richer kids who pointed to them and said something that drew a melancholy look on the middle child. Moving herself to sit in between the older two, she gripped onto either side of her and remained stiff as a board until the presentation was done for the day.

Towards the end, after giving her last speech for the day, she waited until many other children and parents had filtered out to the larger room to see the other covens. Careful not to attract the attention of anyone who might throw themselves at her, she approached the group, careful of her heals catching on her cloak.

“Did you like the presentation?” Lilith asked the children, blue eyes falling on the small child, no older than a few weeks, sleeping soundly on the lap of the middle child. “It’s not common to have someone of your’s and little one’s age attending.”

The middle child, a young girl with tangled and greasy brown hair, gasped, light violet eyes widening when she saw who was in front of them. Careful not to drop the child and with her short legs, the girl tried to stand properly instead ended up falling backward. The child blushed bright red and tears pricked in the corners of her eyes. Crouching down to the height of the child, she held her hand out, now getting a better look at the four, heart-clenching in sorrow.

They all had an odor floating around them and appeared in a desperate need of a warm bath and a good night’s sleep. The eldest two, a male and female around the age of her little sister, about 13, held the most wear with various bruises and bandages on their exposed limbs, appearing decades older than they should.

“Are you alright?” Lilith asked softly, taking ahold of her hand and helping her sit up. “That was quite a tumble for someone young as you are.”

“Kitten,” the eldest, a boy with clumpy yellowish hair, hissed, glancing down at the younger members of the group. “Don’t be rude and answer, Miss Clawthorne.”

“I have had worse, Miss Clawthorne,” the girl said, eyes widening in realization. “I mean that I am okay and thank you for helping me up, Ma’am.”

“You are most certainly welcome,” she responded in a gentle voice. “Now what is someone young as you, doing in at a convention? It must have been boring and dry. Wouldn’t you rather be outside running around and playing with your friends?”

“I came with Eddie and Emily.”

“She wanted to look at all the covens,” the eldest girl finally spoke up. “Now that the main events are starting, we should show her around. Please excuse us, Miss Clawthorne. I want to show them around before it grows too late.”

“Stay safe, now dears.”

“We will, Miss Clawthorne.”

She would have stayed to watch them leave if it wasn’t for the Emperor’s little Mistress had come calling for her. Glancing one more time at the group of children, she turned and walked away, feeling a bit of uncertainty settling into her stomach. She didn’t know how to explain it or why it happened but it felt wrong to leave them. It was this feeling that stayed with her until the end of the way.

The rest of the day was long and tedious as she went through her duties and made sure to keep an eye out for any miscreants that could cause trouble. As the last few tables were taken down, Lilith went back to retrieve her bag, wanting to return to her small apartment for the night as her bones began to ache with exhaustion. The only thing on her mind at the moment was having a warm bath and a lovely dinner of her mother’s leftovers but that quickly changed when she exited from the back chambers of the building to find the four children, from the morning, sitting on the floor, the eldest male, Eddie, and eldest female, Emily, whispering to each other in a hushed voice.

The younger ones were almost asleep where they sat against the bench. Her head rested on the edge as her eyes were partially lidded, glossy, and moon-like. The babe in her lap was sleeping, its small chest rising in falling.

Faltering in her steps, she paused. It was well past midnight and no other person, then her and them, were inside or approaching the building. Seeing their worried gestures and whispers, her brows furrowed together. What kind of stable minded parents would let children out so late?

It was that moment, with her aching body and screaming feet, which she approached them, deciding not leaving them unsupervised at such a late hour.

“Do your parents know you are out so late?” Lilith drew her cloak around her, trying to push the cold that was creeping up her. “Especially with having two little ones with you. It’s late for them to be out still.”

Eddie and Emily looked up from their talking but remained silent. It was the middle child who clued her in on what was happening.

“Eddie, Emily,” began the girl quietly, blinking her drowsy eyes. “Have you figured out where we are going to be staying tonight? I’m tired."

“You don’t have a place to stay? Any relative that is up waiting for you four?”

The girl, noticing her presence looked worried, starting to fidget in her spot, eyes looking down at the sleeping infant on her lap. Violet eyes glancing up at her eldest siblings, she knew that she messed up.

“Mama and P-Papa don’t want us anymore,” she whispered, refusing to meet the conveness’s eyes.

“What do you mean by that?”

“They don’t love us anymore,” supplied Emily, looking angered.

Their parents had abandoned them! For whatever reason, they had left them to take care of themselves when they were only children.

Taking a deep breath to steady her rising anger, she closed her eyes briefly. While she never wanted to have children, it still pained her to think about children to be left on the streets, homeless and hungry, because their parents no longer wanted them or because they become to be seen as burdens. Releasing her breath, she opened her eyes before looking at the children.

“Then come along, dears,” Lilith said softly, holding her hand out for the younger one to grab. “Let’s get you somewhere where you can have a warm bath and a nice hot heal.”

Big, stunned eyes met her own. Then looked at her siblings and met her gaze once more. Holding her hand out patiently, she tried to give a reassuring smile even though a yawn was starting to build up.

“We will be fine,” the eldest, Eddie, finally said, getting stiffly to his feet and moving over to where the younger two rest. “Come on, Ashia. We can go and sleep at the park-like yesterday.”

“Nonsense!” The twenty-one-year-old felt a flash of horror at the thought of four children sleeping on the cold plastic during frigid weather as tonight. “I insist you come with me back to my apartment unless you want me to take you to the local orphanage to live there."

“We’ll go with you,” Emily and Eddie said at the same time.

“Good choice,” she said with a nod, summoning her staff with a flick of her hand. “It will be a tight squeeze but I think, we should be able to ride on my staff. It might work better for the younger ones to ride in front of me and you two in the back. It’ll be easier to balance and safer for them to be within my reach if we hit turbulence or anything on the ride back to my place.”

“Are you sure they will be safe, Miss Clawthorne?” Eddie glanced worriedly at where Emily was helping Ashia and to her feet while juggling the baby in her arms. “It’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s just they can be wiggly at times even if they are sleepy.”

“Yes.” Lilith let out a hum of amusement. “Let me tell you a little secret, Eddie. I was about nine when I got my staff and my little sister, Edalyn, just turned one when I first rode with her on my staff. While my mom micromanaged me on the short flight to the local playground, I never lost grasp of her or became unbalanced since she was in front of me.”

“Okay...” Eddie scooped up Ashia and followed Lilith out to the front of the building. Once everyone was suited in their proper spots, they took off.

___

“I know this isn’t the best but this will have to do until further notice.” Lilith bent down with a pained expression as she smoothed out one of her extra bedrolls onto the ground. Unzipping the flap, she laid it on the side as Emily and Eddie were tucking in their younger siblings. Ashia, being the second youngest, had been allowed to claim the couch with a plush comforter and an old stuffed toy of Edalyn’s that got packed by accident. On the table by her head, in a dresser drawer, their infant sister, Flora, slept on a towel and only in a diaper after Lilith turned the heat up. “I only have one bedroll, I’m afraid, but give me a second, I might be able to find some extra blankets and pillows for the other to sleep on.”

“You don’t have to do that...” Emily, sporting an extra Emperor’s coven t-shirt from their handouts, said, going over to Lilith. “Eddie and I can roll the bedroll fully and sleep on that. We have slept on stuff that is less cushion and more hard.”

“Would you like some extra pillows?” She knew that she had a few around somewhere for when Edalyn was supposed to come to stay the night sometime in the next few weeks. “If you give me a second, I scrounge up two or three for the bedroll.”

Eddie, now freshly dressed and having clean, yellow hair, gave a shake of his head. “We will be fine, Ma’am. If you would excuse us now, we would like to get some sleep before Flora wakes up,” he said, glancing at where his youngest sister was sleeping.

“I am just down the hall,” the twenty-one-year-old said, giving a quick stretch. “My door will be open if you need anything tonight.”

“Thank you,” both twins chorused together.

Giving a nod, she disappeared into her bedroom.

She had just started to settle down into bed when her scroll rang across the room. Throwing the covers off of her and cursing, she grabbed the scroll from its charger. There was no one that the twenty-one-year-old witch could think of who would be calling at this late of an hour. It was close to three in the morning and the few people who had her scroll number were ready asleep a long time ago.

Unrolling it and seeing that it was her little sister calling, it was a bit startling. Her thirteen-year-old sister usually never stayed up this late since it was a school day tomorrow and their mother confiscated her scroll when she goes to bed at ten.

“Edalyn?” Lilith asked, yawning as she accepted the call, putting it on speakerphone.

“Lilith! Is everything okay?” her little sister sounded worried, foot-tapping softly in the background. “Are you alright? Did anything happen?”

“No, I’m fine, tired and sore but not in danger,” Lilith reassured her sister, sensing the tears beyond the screen. “Is everything alright on your end? You’re never up this late and didn’t Mom take the scroll from you last night.”

“I had a bad dream that something is happening,” she explained, voice growing quiet. “So I sneaked into the kitchen, took the scroll off the charger, and am currently hiding in the bathroom with the door locked. Now, what is happening over there? It’s been years since I had a dream that felt like something was wrong.”

“Well…” Lily trailed off, thinking. Was she going to ask her little sister this question, especially after just meeting them? But the more she thought of it, seeing how skinny and tired they were and the feeling she got in the pit of her stomach made Lilith ask, “Edalyn, how do you feel like becoming an aunt?”

“You’re PREGNANT!”

“Pre—“ Lilith fumbled for a moment before gathering her thoughts. “God no and keep your voice down. I don’t need Mother driving over here and yelling at me for keeping you up on a school night. But besides that, I have a small brood of four crashing at my place tonight and I just can’t let them go back onto the streets tonight. So, what do you think of becoming an aunt, Eda?”

“I would love to be an aunt,” Eda said, voice low. “How old are they?”

“Two of them look around to be your age,” explained the older sister. “One looks to be seven and another couldn’t be older than a month or two at max.”

“You know father won’t be happy..”

“Father can go bite it,” she said as she heard cursing on the other end. “Edalyn? Is everything alright?”

“I have to go, Lil,” Edalyn said. “I will call you tomorrow after school. Bye!”

With that, the line fell dead.

Attaching the scroll back onto its charger and settling back down into her bed, Lilith made a decision. Tomorrow, after giving the children breakfast at the local café, she would take them down to the adoption agency and become their mother by law. It was the right thing to do

_***_

_“You never did get back to me, Edalyn,” Lilith said, beginning to pack up her stuff and placing it into her bag. Already, she could hear the rising complaints of the children saying they were hungry as they began to slow down for the evening. “What happened exactly? I’ve never heard you curse so much until that moment.”_

_“Mother found me and grounded me for two weeks to my room,” Edalyn said with a chuckle, before leaning back against her chair. “No scroll, no gaming with my friends after school, or going to any games. All I could do was go to school, stare at my wall, do homework, and chores besides eating and going to the bathroom.”_

_“That would make sense why you practically begged me to allow you to stay over the third weekend after the phone call,” she recalled with a smile. “I just thought you would want to get to know your nephew and nieces before I introduced them to Mother and Father.”_

_“Eda!” Luz burst into the house and ran into the dining room. Her face was flushed, eyes sparkling, and scratches on her cheeks. Going over to her mentor, she flopped onto her lap, which Eda let out a low groan before patting her on the shoulder. Taking up the rear, Ashia and Flora approached their mother. Scooting the chair out, she welcomed her two daughters on her lap, each arm keeping them balanced as they chattered to each other._

_“What do you want, kid?” Eda asked, amusement on her face as she caught her breath._

_“What are we having for supper?” The Latina preteen asked as King clambered onto her lap and settling down with a low purr. “I’m hungry after being picked to be the spell the past five rounds of Spell Casted.”_

_“Depends on what you want, dear.” Eda looked at her sister. “We could have leftovers from what you made with Flora. Or we could do something special and go out. I know the Leaky Cauldron is still open. Any thoughts, Lil?” Glancing at her older sister once more, Lilith looked down at her two youngest as they now had their heads on her chest, appearing sleepy._

_“Do you two want to go out to eat?” she asked, looking at the four and eleven years old._

_“Yes!” Flora smiled, nodding. “It’s been forever since we went out to eat!”_

_“We went out three weeks ago,” Ashia corrected quietly but added, “But still, I would love to have some buzzards from the Leaky Cauldron though.”_

_“Then we will go out and eat,” Edalyn said, gently pushing Luz off of her and sitting up with a pained grunt. “Go and get your cloak kid. It’s going to be a cold evening tonight. Don’t want you to miss a day of school because you got the sniffles or head cold because you weren’t properly dressed.”_

_“Okay!” Luz started to dash to her attic bedroom, Flora and Ashia soon following her, excited about going out to eat again._

_“You know, I never expected either of us to become parents,’ Lilith said as she pushed her chair in with a quick spell. “After everything we swore that we never to do as adults, I’m shocked this is how our lives played out so far.”_

_“Then again, I never thought I would have an apprentice at seventeen,” Edalyn pointed out, going to the cupboard to pull out a jar filled with snail money. “Since technically never finished attending Hexide or done my secondary training, but looks like I am doing fine with Luz. She already mastered her third spell under six weeks of being here when she never had used magic until now.”_

_“I never thought, I would become a mother to two children who were the same age as my little sister,” she said as their brood of four arrived back into the kitchen. Picking up Flora into her arms and taking her bag in her other, she headed to the door. “But it all turned out fine in the end term. Now, I believe that we have promised to our broods that we would take them out to eat.”_

_Holding the door open, Edalyn exited and locked the door behind her before following on her staff with Luz and King in front of her towards the Leaky Cauldron for a late evening meal._


End file.
